As the Undertaker enters WWE Hall of Fame, Middle East fans pay tribute to ‘the Phenom’

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The real Undertaker famously defeated his impersonator during a head-to-head at the SummerSlam of August 1994. (Supplied )
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Updated 01 April 2022
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As the Undertaker enters WWE Hall of Fame, Middle East fans pay tribute to ‘the Phenom’

  • Mark Calaway is one of the most recognized superstars in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment
  • Saudis who grew up watching “the Deadman” in action on TV are among the Undertaker’s biggest fans

RIYADH: World Wrestling Entertainment superstar the Undertaker will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, as part of WrestleMania Week, in a ceremony that will be streamed live worldwide.

Mark Calaway, better known to fans by his ring name the Undertaker, is one of the most recognized superstars in the history of WWE and a pop culture icon, having made his WWE debut at the 1990 Survivor Series as the mystery partner for WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Team.

“I remember I was 11 when I watched him debut at Survivor Series in 1990,” Sultan Alobaid, a Saudi media professional, told Arab News, echoing the sentiments of many Saudi millennials who grew up watching “the Deadman” on their TV screens.

The man who earned the moniker “the Phenom” went on to hold nearly every major championship in WWE, and has competed in some of its most memorable matches during his illustrious 30-year career.

A year into his journey with the promotion, he defeated the legendary Hulk Hogan to win his first (what was then) WWF Championship at the 1991 Survivor Series, and became the youngest ever champion at that time. 

The Undertaker has established a historic 21-year undefeated streak at WrestleMania that is yet to be broken. Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition recognized him as having the most consecutive victories at WrestleMania in 2016.




Triple H, left, fights with The Undertaker. (Supplied)

“I remember every year I watched WrestleMania just to see who the Undertaker was going to beat,” Ahmed Al-Jassim, a Saudi cellphone shop owner, told Arab News. “It started with Jimmy Snuka and we saw it extend to other legends like King Kong Bundy, Triple H, Kane, and Shawn Michaels.”

The Undertaker’s fights with Shawn Michaels and Triple H are considered among the best in the history of WWE’s biggest marquee event.

Recalling the time when Brian Lee stepped in as an Undertaker impersonator for several weeks in 1994, one Saudi WWE fan said: “I still remember the two Undertakers incident. Of course, at the time, there was no internet or satellite television, so I was following the build-up of excitement through newspaper and magazine articles over weeks. All that my friends and I would wonder was if this was true, and whether WWE would actually pull off two identical wrestlers or would use special effects.”




The real Undertaker famously defeated his impersonator during a head-to-head at the SummerSlam of August 1994. (Supplied )

The Saudi fan, now in his forties, added: “I remember rushing to the video store and back home when I heard that SummerSlam video had been released and there it was: Undertaker Vs Undertaker, identical in their looks and even their moves. It was sports entertainment history in the making and a truly memorable moment.”

The real Undertaker famously defeated his impersonator during a head-to-head at the SummerSlam of August 1994.

FASTFACT

Did you know that, for a short period of time in 1994, there were two Undertakers? This happened when the real Undertaker was away on his break. The WWE officials introduced Brian Lee to impersonate the Undertaker. Brian looked just like the real Undertaker with wet, long hair and sinister looks.

“The Undertaker was a big part of all of our childhoods,” Tamaraah Al-Gabaani, a Saudi Arabia-based fashion influencer, told Arab News. Recalling the ‘fake’ Undertaker episode, she said: “It obviously didn’t sit well with me as a loyal fan.”

Throughout his career, the Undertaker was involved in many first-of-a-kind matches, a notable one being against Mankind in the first Boiler Room Brawl at SummerSlam 1996. Memorably, as the name suggests, the two wrestling legends spent 20 minutes brawling in the Cleveland Gund Arena’s boiler room.

The Undertaker took his rivalry with Mankind to a new level with another unprecedented specialty match with the main event of In Your House: Buried Alive. 




The Undertaker of younger days. (Supplied)

At the Badd Blood event in 1997, the Undertaker challenged Shawn Michaels to a first-ever Hell in a Cell match, which would become a mainstay for WWE.

“Well, you know, you have to prepare mentally,” the Undertaker told Arab News in a 2020 interview, looking back at these career highlights.

“When you’re thinking about your match, you have to look at everything that you’ve done, that led up to that particular match, because obviously if you’re going to have a Buried Alive match, there’s had to have been some serious things happen along the way to get to the point where you want to bury somebody alive.




The Undertaker, left, and Shawn Michaels. (Supplied)

The Undertaker and Mankind’s macabre feud was revived in 1998, taken to a graphic new height, and decisively resolved when they faced each other in a Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring.

“You know, if there’s a lot of those matches like Buried Alive and Hell in a Cell, and the Inferno match, that one was interesting. There wasn’t any rehearsing anything on that one, believe me, that was just out there doing it and hoping that I wasn’t one that got caught on fire. As morbid as that sounds, I guess it fits with what I do.”

The match became one of the most famous in professional wrestling history when the Undertaker threw Mankind off the roof of the 4.9-meter cell onto a broadcast table below.

“I blame the Undertaker for the times I got in trouble for copying his wrestling moves on my friends and brothers,” Joel Huffman, an American expat in Saudi Arabia and a co-founder of Arabius, told Arab News.




Posing with his champion's belt. (Supplied)

Indeed, the Undertaker has been responsible for some of the most theatrical moments in WWE history. At the 1992 Summer Slam, held for the first and only time out of the US at London’s Wembley Stadium, he entered the arena riding on the back of a hearse.

At the 2005 Survivor Series, druids delivered a casket that was struck by lightning and went up in flames. The Undertaker then burst from the flaming casket in a rage and brutalized an entire ring full of superstars as a message to his next victim Randy Orton.

In 2011, promotional videos aired showing the Undertaker entering and standing in a Western-style old house on a rainy desert. Each promo ended with the date 2–21–11 being “burned into” the screen.

 

 

On that year’s Feb. 21 edition of Raw, the Undertaker returned. But before he could speak, Triple H also returned and challenged him to a confrontation at WrestleMania XXVII, which was later made under no-holds-barred rules. The Undertaker won, but he had to be carried away from the ring on a stretcher.

“I thank him for his example of hard work and dedication throughout his legendary 30-year career and well-deserved place in the Hall of Fame among the greatest sports entertainment icons in history,” said Huffman.

The Undertaker featured in the lineup of wrestling giants who participated in Saudi Arabia’s first televised WWE event in April 2018, where 60,000 fans packed out the King Abdullah Stadium in Jeddah.

The event was the first in a 10-year partnership between WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s social and economic reform agenda.

WWE announced on Nov. 4, 2019, that it had expanded its partnership with the Kingdom until 2027, under which it would hold two large-scale events in the country per year.

Saudi Arabia first announced WWE would be holding shows in the Kingdom in Dec. 2013, with the first house shows taking place at Riyadh’s Green Halls Stadium in April 2014.

“I’m glad WWE has come to Saudi Arabia now,” Atallah Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi who works in transportation logistics, told Arab News.




The Undertaker at Wrestlemania with John Cena. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)

“My favorite time was when the Undertaker and Goldberg wrestled. It was truly great to see these two legends in person. I grew up watching both,” he added, referring to the 2019 Super ShowDown in Jeddah.

On Nov. 22, 2020, exactly 30 years after making his ring debut, the Undertaker announced his retirement to a crowdless arena in Orlando, Florida — emptied due to that year’s COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

The Undertaker’s WWE Hall of Fame induction, therefore, marks an ideal opportunity to give “the Phenom” the dramatic send-off he deserves.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be 41 when he retired,” said Saudi fan Alobaid, reflecting on his hero’s monumental life in the ring.

“What a career! Forever the Undertaker.”


‘Ocean’ — bleak indictment of mankind offers a glimmer of hope

Updated 13 June 2025
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‘Ocean’ — bleak indictment of mankind offers a glimmer of hope

  • David Attenborough’s latest documentary is a vital, compelling call to action

JEDDAH: “Ocean with David Attenborough” was released regionally on Disney+ on June 8 — World Ocean Day. It hit cinemas in May, on the 99th birthday of its venerable and venerated presenter, the famed biologist and broadcaster.

Like all Attenborough-fronted nature docs, “Ocean” is gorgeously shot and an immersive viewing experience. But while the vast majority of his output leaves you speechless at the on-screen beauty, “Ocean” also strikes you dumb at the horrifying devastation wrought on the open seas by the 40,000+ super-sized fishing trawlers operating around our planet constantly.

Sweeping the seabed with their giant nets, these ships commit slaughter on an unimaginable scale, leaving little alive in their rapacious search for a few specific species that humans actually eat. In their wake they leave something akin to the dystopian portrayals of a nuclear winter in post-apocalyptic dramas. These grim, heart-breaking shots are interspersed with glorious, vibrant scenes of what a healthy seabed should look like — towering forests of kelp, sea meadows, abundant diverse communities of extraordinary marine life… A reminder of what we are destroying every minute of every day.

Attenborough lays out for us with all of his trademark passion and authority just what is at risk here. The seas, he stresses, are vital for the survival of humankind. And humankind is putting the seas in terrible jeopardy. Marine ecosystems are delicately balanced and linked in complex, subtle ways that we are only now beginning to understand. And industrial fishing is far from subtle. As Attenborough notes, if rainforests were being razed at this rate, the protests would be global and furious. But because this destruction takes place miles below the surface of the water, it goes mainly unnoticed. Incredibly, this mindless, untargeted carnage is not illegal; it is positively encouraged — and heavily subsidized — by many governments. 

Thankfully, there is hope. Attenborough reveals that scientists have discovered that — if left alone through the imposition of “no-take zones” — the oceans can recover at an incredible rate, and the most barren of sea floors can once again flourish in just a few years. There is now an international pact to turn one-third of Earth’s seas into no-take zones by 2030. And if this does happen — note the if — then there’s a good chance that man-made damage can be reversed not just in the water, but on land, as sea life is, it turns out, extremely adept at reducing carbon. The sea could save the world.

As nature documentaries go, it’s hard to imagine “Ocean” being bettered (except perhaps for the distracting clichéd mishmash that serves as its soundtrack, which deserves to be classified as a man-made disaster itself). This is a compelling, vital and urgent narrative delivered by an expert scientist and broadcaster accompanied by awe-inspiring, mind-boggling cinematography showing us wonders that most of us will never come close to seeing first-hand. And it lays out a path for survival. Whether we actually take that path...


Streaming successes: What’s coming to your screens later this year 

Updated 13 June 2025
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Streaming successes: What’s coming to your screens later this year 

  • From stressed-out cooks to foul-mouthed spymasters, the must-see shows still to come in 2025 

‘Squid Game’ season 3 

Starring: Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-joon 

Where: Netflix  

When: June 27 

The final season of the South Korean survival thriller about a game show where the rewards are enormous but loss means death, Seong Gi-hun (or player 456, as you might know him) and his friends must fight for survival in ever-more fiendish challenges. The VIPs — the wealthy individuals who fund the games — return to the island once again, perhaps setting the stage for a vengeance-fueled finale and a showdown between the Front Man and his brother, police officer Jun-ho. 

‘Ironheart’ 

Starring: Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, Lyric Ross 

Where: Disney+ 

When: June 25 

This Marvel miniseries is a spinoff from the “Black Panther” movie franchise and follows MIT student and genius inventor Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, who was responsible for creating the vibranium detector that sparked the events of 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” in which she also invented an exoskeleton to rival that of Tony Stark/Ironman so that she could fight alongside the Wakandans. Now Williams has returned home to Chicago, where she meets Parker Robbins, aka The Hood, who is able to access dark magic, setting Williams on a “path of danger and adventure.”  

‘The Bear’ season 4 

Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri 

Where: Disney+ 

When: June 26 

The first two seasons of the horribly tense kitchen-based drama “The Bear” were fantastic TV. The third? Not so much. (Although it should be said that even weak episodes of “The Bear” are still better than the vast majority of shows.) But hopefully season four finds super-talented chef Carmy Berzatto and his crew back on form as they try to make a success of the titular family restaurant which they’ve shifted from run-down sandwich shop to fine-dining venue. And after a wait of almost a year, we’ll finally get to find out what that all-important review said. 

‘Wednesday’ season 2  

Starring: Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman 

Where: Netflix  

When: August 6 

Wednesday Addams is back at Nevermore Academy for another year. And this time around, the rest of her spooky, kooky family will be spending a lot more time there, too — much to Wednesday’s chagrin — and not just because her brother Pugsley has enrolled. Co-showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have promised a “darker, more complex” series. And at Netlix’s live Tudum event last month, it was announced that Lady Gaga will be guest starring as the “mysterious and enigmatic” Nevermore teacher Rosaline Rotwood. 

‘Slow Horses’ season 5 

Starring: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas 

Where: Apple+ TV 

When: Sept. 24 

Former British super-spy Jackson Lamb and his unfortunate crew of misfit spooks return for another series of this excellent, darkly humorous espionage drama. This time around, the trouble starts when Slough House’s resident tech nerd Roddy gets a glamorous new girlfriend, who everyone — or, at least, everyone except for Roddy — can see is well out of his league. The show is an adaptation of Mick Herron’s “Slough House” novels, and this season is based on “London Rules.” “Ted Lasso” star Nick Mohammed is perhaps the biggest new name to join the cast; he'll be playing an ambitious London mayoral candidate. 

‘Stranger Things’ season 5 

Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown 

Where: Netflix 

When: November 26 

The final (really?) season of the phenomenally successful Eighties-set sci-fi horror drama has a lot to live up to. Once again, psychokinetic Eleven and her pals in Hawkins, Indiana, must fight to save the Earth from the alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. Since its arrival on our screens in 2016, “Stranger Things” has been one of the world’s most talked-about and beloved series. Showrunners The Duffer Brothers have got pretty much everything right so far. Can they stick the landing? 


‘Fever Dream’ starring Fatima Al-Banawi lands on Netflix

Updated 11 June 2025
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‘Fever Dream’ starring Fatima Al-Banawi lands on Netflix

DUBAI: Saudi filmmaker Faris Godus’ latest feature “Fever Dream” is now available to stream on Netflix, bringing together a star-studded local cast including Fatima Al-Banawi, Sohayb Godus, Najm, Hakeem Jomah and Nour Al-Khadra.

Supported by the Red Sea Fund, the film, which explores themes of media manipulation, digital identity, and the cost of fame in the age of online influence, had its world premiere at the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival. 

It tells the story of Samado, a retired football star who, burdened by media scrutiny and public notoriety, finds a chance to reclaim control. Partnering with his daughter, he sets out to take revenge on a powerful social media portal. But as they plunge deeper into their pursuit of fame and digital redemption, the line between ambition and obsession begins to blur.

Najm plays Ahlam, the daughter of Samado, while Jomah appears as Hakeem, a PR agent hired to help restore Samado’s public image. Al-Banawi takes on the role of Alaa, another key PR agent working alongside Hakeem.

Godus is famous for his work “Shams Alma’arif” (The Book of Sun), which also streamed on Netflix, and “Predicament in Sight.” 

He previously said in an interview with Arab News: “(In Saudi Arabia), we have a rich soil to build content on and so many stories to tell. I do believe that nowadays the support coming from our country is just awesome. People have so many chances to create films now.”

Meanwhile, Al-Banawi is recognized for her roles in “Barakah Meets Barakah” and the Saudi thriller “Route 10.” 

She made her directorial debut with “Basma,” in which she also plays the title role — a young Saudi woman who returns to her hometown of Jeddah after studying in the US. Back home, she is confronted with her father’s mental illness, strained family ties, and the challenge of reconnecting with a past life that no longer feels familiar.

“I really went into cinema — in 2015 with my first feature as an actress — with one intention: to bridge the gap between the arts and social impact and psychology,” she previously told Arab News. “And I was able to come closer to this union when I positioned myself as a writer-director, more so than as an actor.” 


Mya lights up BET red carpet in Alexis Bittar jewels

Updated 10 June 2025
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Mya lights up BET red carpet in Alexis Bittar jewels

DUBAI: US singer-songwriter Mya Marie Harrison, who goes by the stage name Mya, showed off accessories by a part-Syrian designer at the BET Awards in Los Angeles on Monday night.

Grammy Award–winning singer and entertainer Mya showed off a handbag and jewelry by accessories designer Alexis Bittar on the red carpet before she delivered a dynamic performance of her 2000 hit “Case of the Ex.”

On the carpet, she was fully accessorized in Bittar’s flashy, decadent pieces — from an extravagant pendant at her neck to an eclectic stack of bangles, all topped off with a sparkly silver clutch.

Known for his bold, organic designs and use of mixed materials, Bittar infuses distinct Middle Eastern flair into his work. The New York–based designer, who is half Syrian on his father’s side, has built a global reputation for his statement-making accessories.

Grammy Award–winning singer and entertainer Mya showed off a handbag and jewelry by accessories designer Alexis Bittar. (Getty Images)

Mya is far from his first celebrity client. His expansive portfolio includes the likes of Michelle Obama and Cameron Diaz, and he famously served as the costume jewelry designer for HBO series “Sex and the City,” helping define character Carrie Bradshaw’s now iconic looks.

On Monday night, Bittar’s creations were just one part of a star-studded evening that balanced fashion, purpose, and powerful performances.

The BET Awards delivered a night of major star power and poignant moments, marking the ceremony's 25th anniversary with a mix of comedy, emotion and calls for justice, the Associated Press reported. The festivities included a powerful speech by Doechii, Jamie Foxx’s emotional reflection and Kevin Hart’s sharp comedic opener.

Doechii, in particular, made her presence felt early during the five-hour ceremony, using her acceptance speech for best female hip-hop artist to draw attention to the immigration raids and protest crackdowns taking place just miles from the venue.

Foxx, Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg and Kirk Franklin received the Ultimate Icon Award. They were selected due to their impact on entertainment as well as their community impact and advocacy.

Carey said this was her first time collecting a trophy at the BET Awards.

“It took me a while, but I finally realized that life is far too short to live for anyone else's approval, which is something I always did,” said Carey, a five-time Grammy winner. “I decided to own who I am.”

 


Gerard Butler on bringing Stoick to life in live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

Updated 11 June 2025
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Gerard Butler on bringing Stoick to life in live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

RIYADH: Scottish actor Gerard Butler is returning to the Viking Isle of Berk, but this time he is trading his animated voice for full costume and presence in the live-action adaptation of “How to Train Your Dragon” — a remake of the beloved DreamWorks franchise, helmed by three-time Oscar nominee Dean DeBlois.

In this new retelling, which releases on June 12, Mason Thames plays the inventive Hiccup, a young Viking who defies tradition to befriend Toothless, a Night Fury dragon. Butler reprises his role as Stoick the Vast, Hiccup’s formidable father, stepping from the recording booth into full-bodied performance.

 

 

“It’s a big change,” Butler told Arab News. “When I’m doing the recording, the animation, I could pretty much turn up in my pajamas if I wanted to. But there’s no getting away with that here. It was all of me. There’s no excuses.”

He described the live-action shift as “a chance to bring Stoick’s bigness and smallness” to life in a whole new way.

Butler praised his co-stars, including Nico Parker as Astrid and Nick Frost as Gobber, and especially young lead Thames.

 

 

He reflected on the dynamic between the father and son, saying: “Well, he’s an incredible young actor. And I feel like the characters and the relationships that our writer-director Dean DeBlois (has created), there’s a reason they became so beloved and people feel so strongly because they’re incredibly emotional.

“So, I think to play that Viking father who expects so much from his son, and his son who’s trying his best and actually has all these incredible characteristics that I just can’t see, was beautiful to delve into ... on sets with our clothes, with our costumes, and really believe that we were in that world. That was pretty epic.”

Returning to Saudi Arabia for the film’s press tour, Butler shared his affection for the Kingdom, saying: “I had an incredible experience here and made some really nice friends. AlUla is beyond. I became very attached to that place, to its energy, its history, and to the community there.”

Butler expressed his excitement for the audience, adding: “There’s so much … for them to see because there’s so much in this movie. I think that some of the scenes of the dragons flying are some of the most beautiful, immersive, powerful scenes that I’ve seen on a big screen. But on top of that, I think that we have very complex, emotional, heartfelt performances and a story that they can also climb into. I think we have a lot of modern references that we can all like; the characters are so relatable.

“It’s a big honor for me to be able to play this character again. I feel very lucky to be part of this franchise. I feel very protective of it because I was there. I was actually there even before Dean DeBlois was there, you know, because we had a different director way, way back. So I’ve been with it for a long, long time, and to see it start as just a little planet and then become a whole universe has been amazing.”